


Azul y Rojo

by ILoveDragonsALot



Series: Imperial Academy [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Boxing as relief, Bullying, F/M, I have no idea, Lots of other stuff, Oh boy there is fluff, Reader is done with this crab, Title means: Blue and red, i think, so original right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22728559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILoveDragonsALot/pseuds/ILoveDragonsALot
Summary: You are as close to anger as you've even been. To hell with Cadet Arben Terrace. To hell with all of them.Established relationship (Thrawn/Reader)
Relationships: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo & Eli Vanto, Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Original Female Character(s), Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Reader
Series: Imperial Academy [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1545292
Comments: 12
Kudos: 46





	Azul y Rojo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SelnyCelery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelnyCelery/gifts).



> Why did I write this, why did I write this, why did I write this, why did I write this, why did I write this? What is this? What am I? Hang on I need to go sit in a dark corner and ponder life.

You burst through your door, slamming the controls to lock the others out. You heard fierce swearing, a collection of snarls, and then a sharp smash on the other side. The controls on the outside beeped with the familiar sound of denied entry.

Cadet Arben Terrace roared furiously, his voice muffled by the door. "You can't hide forever, hellhound. As soon as you come out, you're dead! You hear me?"

"Shove it up your rear end!" you shouted back, your hands clenched into fists and your heart pounding against your ribcage. The noise on the other side fell silent, but your own breathing screamed in your ears.

To hell with this. To hell with them. You couldn't even go past the-

"(Y/N)?" a soft voice asked. 

You jerked violently as a blue hand touched your face, and the hand pulled back again.

Thrawn looked down at you, his elegant face creased with concern. "Are you well?"

You wanted to say yes. You wanted to tell him you were fine, and that you could handle the constant bullying, and that he didn't need to worry. But your body made the decision for you and you broke down in front of him, water bursting from your eyes and a quiet cry escaping your lips.

"No!" you choked out between sobs. "I'm not! Ever since stupid Terrace set his anger on me, I haven't even been able to wander the corridors without being dragged into a corner and kicked into a pulp!"

You hardly registered his arms wrapping around you, or him murmuring something melodically in his native tongue. His hand rested on the back of your head, trying to comfort you as you cried against his broad chest, your own hand fisting his pale shirt. 

"I'm sick of this!" you wailed, your tone stifled by the fabric clinging to your face. You could barely even form the words as all your frustration from the past many weeks gushed out in a frenzy, unable to be stopped. There was just too much. Too much emotion to deal with right now and all you could do was release it. After a long moment, when your cries had ceased, you lifted your tear-stained face to look into Thrawn's deep red eyes.

"Better?" he asked. 

"I'll be better when I'm out of this place," you croaked, eyes sore and sticky. You pushed out from his embrace to see him better. "Thank you."

"I am here for you," he answered quietly, his face still showing worry. "What did they do?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," you mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

"I cannot help you if you do not tell me."

You tried to push back further, but Thrawn held you there, his eyes boring into yours. _He'd make an excellent interrogator,_ you thought venomously, meeting his eyes with a glare, but still saying nothing.

"I want to help you, g'enrcen'aho en'tisan'sasi," he huffed, showing the first signs of frustration. "But I cannot if you do not tell me what I need to know."

You held his gaze for a moment longer, before letting out a long breath that seemed to deflate you. "There were eight of them. _Eight_. And I couldn't do a damn thing about it."

"They attacked you."

You gritted your teeth. "In a way."

His eyes narrowed. "They attacked you indecently."

Your lips thinned, and you said nothing. You felt his chest tense under your palms.

Thrawn hissed something under his breath, his gaze flicking over you to check for any visible injuries. His eyes softened. "You are limping."

"It's nothing," you said, a little too quick to dismiss the subject.

You blinked, and then he had wrapped an arm around you, lifted you up, and plonked you down on one of the bottom bunk beds. You blinked again, trying to process the sudden movement. Thrawn disappeared briefly into the refresher, and you heard the sharp sound of rushing water. When he reappeared, he held a grey flannel in his hand. He sat down next to you and you allowed him to wipe the warm, damp fabric gently over your face.

When the flannel was pulled away from your face, you saw the corner of Thrawn's mouth quirk up.

"What?" you asked, not without some exasperation.

"Nothing," he answered, but he couldn't quite keep a straight face.

You frowned, jerking when someone slammed their hand against the door again.

When Thrawn turned to survey at the door, you took the time to twist your leg around so your foot lay of your other knee. A dark, blackened bruise had bloomed across your leg, above your ankle. As you stared at it, you dully registered the other spots of pain and the tear in your bra from when one of the female cadets had attempted to embarrass you. Of course, she hadn't succeeded. You should have felt bad at the time, but at the moment, you couldn't quite care about that motherhubbard's feelings.

You jolted when Thrawn lightly ran his long fingers over it. His red eyes flicked up to your face.

"Do you not trust me?"

You looked away. "It's not that. It's just... I thought I could deal with it at the time. But everything got worse."

"Thank you for telling me," he said softly. He laid a hand over yours, the warmth enveloping your fingers. It took you a moment to realize how close you were to him, able to see the flecks of pale red in his irises.

He seemed to read your mind, and before you could make the first move, his lips were already on yours, his free hand pulling you closer. His soft lips pressed onto your mouth, setting your cheeks aflame, and you couldn't help but close your eyes. His fingers moved from tangling in your hair to caressing your face, his fingers tracing your chin. Shivers travelled down your back and into your toes, washing over you like warm water. You were the one to break the kiss, gulping in a breath of air.

You couldn't help but laugh, nesting your head in the crook of his shoulder. "How you're such a good kisser is beyond me."

You gasped when his hot lips trailed down your neck, tenderly grazing your skin with his teeth. "I will take that as a compliment."

* * *

You swung your knee up into the bag while your hands brought it into the blow. As soon as the force dissipated, you were back at it with your fists. Move after move slammed into the bag, rolling through your wrists and into your back.

Sweat plastered your brow, but you kept going. Sharp breathing filled your ears, but the only thing you could see was the bag in front of you, doing such a good job at impersonating the person you could so happily punch into dust.

Cadet Terrace.

A snarl curled your lips as you pictured your fists connecting with his jaw. Thrawn could only help so much. The rest of the weight had to be put to good use with your knuckles.

You hissed at your left hook hit off target, a fresh wave of pain sparking through your arm. _Sloppy._

Nearby, Eli had stopped to rest and was staring at you with a frown of mild concern. You ignored it, continuing your attacks. Pity wasn't going to help you defeat your enemies.

That's all they were. Bullies. _Vermin._

Your elbow hit the bag where your opponent's throat would have been.

They were trying to get inside your head.

Your palm slammed hard into the rough fabric, burning crawling across your skin.

They were trying to scare you.

You landed a high kick that sent the bag swinging violently.

"Hey, um, (Y/N)..." you heard Eli say.

You leaned into a straight punch, no longer registering the dull aches and needle-like points of pain. 

"(Y/N)!" Eli called, his voice rising.

Your hands fell to your sides, chest heaving and salty sweat dripping down your neck. The boxing bag swung to and fro in front of your face. "What?"

"Calm down. Your knuckles are bleeding."

With some effort, you brought your hands up into your vision. You felt that familiar itch of bright red blood creeping up from the splits in your skin and splattering over your hands. "Huh."

"Are you okay? Cause, y'know, the other day-"

"Fine, thanks," you grunted, your eyes burning two holes in the bag that you so wished was an actual person, sprayed with your blood. You needed to clean that up.

* * *

Weapons class. Warship Division. Also known as WWD, 'Warship Weapons Division'. The Instructor here had a broad name for being overly strict and overly punishing. Somehow, you had stayed far under his radar, but with your face buried in the wiring of an ion cannon, it wasn't hard to see why. Too quiet, spotless record, high grades, important parents. Perfect for lying low and staying out of sight of the adults. You wished the same could be said of Thrawn and Eli. They had to deal with the staff _and_ the cadets.

While you were concentrating on tightening the wire connecting to the main power board, you could overhear the quiet hum of conversation and low chatter. And with that came eavesdropping.

"Korah said to wait 'til the end of break," someone whispered.

Another voice answered. "Why the end? Why not the start? What did Terrace say?"

"Terrace got pimped on," the first person hissed. "They knicked him yesterday."

Your hands stilled.

"Terrace got called out? Who had the guts to do that?"

"Dunno. Coulda been (Y/N), but she's too quiet. Had to be someone else. But Korah still said wait to the end. The Instructors aren't around then."

The second paused, and you resumed tightening the thick wire to avoid suspicion. "'Kay. Now, how the hell are we supposed to assemble this thing?"

You shut out the rest of their conversation, your heartbeat thumping in your ears. _Terrace was gone? How-_

 _The cameras._ They'd installed new surveillance equipment for the upcoming examinations. Terrace was gone. They'd kicked him. They'd actually, truly kicked him. Now to see if Korah could get served justice as well...

* * *

You weren't as good at strategy as Thrawn. You knew deep down that you never would be. But despite that, you could still pull a few good tactics. Well, you _assumed_ you could pull a few good tactics as you walked slowly down the corridor. Not too fast to seem hurried or worried, and not slow enough to look like you were waiting for something. You let your eyes scan the corridor, as no one who got harassed, _no one_ , would walk down a hallway with a datapad in hand and their gaze on the screen. If you seemed too relaxed or had purposely distracted yourself, your tormentors would know something was up.

With Terrace now gone, a fact you could hardly wrap your head around, Korah was going to be really riled up. He would have figured out where the cameras were by now, and would be letting others believe you were the one who had had his best buddy expelled, rather than having everyone realize Terrace was dumb enough to attack you in front of a camera. You just hoped that this part of the plan worked.

Once you had your portion on a tray in the cafeteria and had joined Eli and Thrawn on their own table, (because who else would want to sit with a Wild Space yokel and a blue alien?), you couldn't help but notice you were starving. Strange, considering things were about to take a bad turn. A really bad turn.

Thrawn and Eli didn't say much as usual, and a few words in Sy Bisti were exchanged between the two. You had no idea what was being said, but with your mouth full, it wouldn't exactly be polite to ask. And a part of you appreciated the silence, because once a quiet person, always a quiet person.

While chewing on whatever it was you were chewing, you idly thought about the small explosion that had occurred because someone hadn't wired the ion cannon correctly. That room was going to smell like scorched cable insulator for a very long time. You weren't sure if cleaning droids could feel exasperated, but they had certainly looked exasperated.

After exchanging a few short sentences with your two friends, you sat up, tray grasped firmly in your strong fingers and wished Thrawn and Eli well. Thrawn's eyes narrowed slightly with that I-might-just-know-what-you're-up-to look, but he said nothing.

Without another care, the tray deposited in the normal slot, you were back in the corridors. The dreaded, ugly, grey corridors. This Academy was on Coruscant, and it still managed to washed-out and completely dull, void of life and colour. _The corridors of Star Destroyers aren't much different,_ you heard your brother say in your head.

You can still remember going through holos of Royal Imperial with your brother, complaining about how horrible it looked. You were going to live there for the next three years, dammit! You needed some excitement! Then your brother had completely reset your line of thinking, telling you that the interior of ILCs and ISDs looked even worse than that. The next few hours were spent talking about officers that had been on board starships for far too long. Those officers had reportedly gone crazy, lost their marbles, and done loopy things that the average Imperial officer wouldn't even think about doing. That was why the ships had made special rules to make sure those kinds of situations were never repeated, such as having small, fake plants placed around the ships. It had apparently reduced the number of crazies gone space mad with the lack of green time.

You were so engrossed in your thoughts that it was a surprise to come into contact with Korah's face.

Instinct kicked in.

You backpedalled a few metres, quickly taking in your surroundings. A breath of relief escaped you as you realized you had correctly anticipated which hallway he'd decide to make his move.

"This seems familiar," Korah spat, his blue eyes ice-cold with the glitter of a thousand icicles.

 _Just as cold and dead as your soul_.

"It'll be familiar when I end it, too," you countered.

"Really?" he asked, and the pit in the bottom of your stomach fell a little further.

"Really," you hissed, some anger creeping into your voice.

"A shame you're that stupid."

About five people appeared behind you, and several others came up beside Korah.

_More than last time._

You saw the same girl beside him that had been causing you trouble before, pale green bruises around her jaw and arm where you had released your rage.

The first blow came from behind, and you twisted down and around the guy, your knee slamming into the back of his knee. He went down as two other cadets decided to try holo-wrestling tactics. They joined the first on the floor.

They were far from done.

The girl in the group, the kind of person with a cruel set to their lips, chose your moment of hesitation to try a sloppy punch to your nose. You grabbed her fist, pulling her forward into your knee. She tried to spit on you, missed, then kicked your shin. You bodyslammed her into the next advancing cadet.

Korah had had enough. He stepped over the people collecting on the floor and yanked you backwards by your long hair as another cadet tripped you. You lost your balance, and he buried his elbow in the sensitive muscles below your collar bone. One of the cadets still standing swept your legs out from under you while another landed a fist in your stomach.

You went down hard, retching painfully.

Someone else landed a kick into your abdomen and you deflected another from your face, hunching over as your stomach clenched. Korah dragged you back up by your hair, your eyes watering as a palm smacked into your nose. Through the pain, you could hear him growl in your ear.

"We'll see how long you last this time."

Another cadet smashed their fist across your jaw with a solid right hook. You spat out blood. "Go kriff yourself."

His arm looped around your neck and you barely heard what else he said.

"See how much she can take in the stomach."

Your vision exploded in white as a hard boot hit you in the ribs, and you felt a crunch and red-hot fire seared up your veins. You yelped in pain, reflexively engrossing your sharp elbow into Korah's side. The arm around your neck tightened to choking point. You felt yourself splutter.

Your vision was failing.

And then you saw two people walking towards you through the blur. _They're going to finish the job_.

"And what do you think you cadets are doing?"

The arm disappeared and suddenly, you could breathe. You didn't care that you were sprawled on the ground, your chest heaving and your breath rasping. You could breathe.

A strong hand helped you to your unsteady feet.

"I see you were correct, Cadet (Y/L/N). I'm glad I could solve this problem for you."

You barely registered the snapping of handcuffs and the sudden silence of the corridors.

You could hardly look at WWD's Instructor. "Thanks," you managed to wheeze.

"The Commandant will see to most of the rest. When you're able to, you can confirm the charges," the grisly Instructor said.

"How soon can I confirm charges?" you coughed.

"Right now."

You achieved a lopsided grin. "Well, how about now, sir?"


End file.
